2018 was a year of transition for the city of Vallejo

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Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan, center, issues the oath of office to new City Manager Greg Nyhoff, while, his wife, Cindy Nyhoff watches during a January 2018 Vallejo City Council meeting. (John Glidden — Times-Herald)

Change was the theme for the city of Vallejo as residents voted out three local elected leaders in November, the community watched as the city positioned itself for future development, and City Hall was awash with new faces.

Community advocate Hakeem Brown was elected to the Vallejo City Council during the Nov. 6 election, coming in first place with 23,288 votes or 28.88 percent, and coming out ahead of the three incumbents seeking re-election to the council.

While councilwomen Katy Miessner and Pippin Dew-Costa each secured a new four-year term on the City Council, Brown’s victory knocked Vallejo Councilman Jess Malgapo from the dais. Malgapo’s departure is probably the biggest shock of the election after he ran a highly successful council campaign in 2013, which saw him place first.

Meanwhile, the city’s electorate dismissed Vallejo school board trustees Ruscal Cayangyang and Burky Worel during the same November election, moving the five-person board in a new direction and ending, many believe, a contentious era for the school board.

Educators John Fox and Tony Gross, received 18,308 and 14,307 votes, respectively, replacing Worel and Cayangyang. Worel was a mainstay on the board in the 1990s before winning a new term to the board in 2014, while Cayangyang was appointed to the board in January 2015, and won re-election in November 2016.

In addition, the Vallejo City Unified School District received a rare gift: bond monies to repair aging classrooms and school sites for the first time in 21 years. Measure S, a $194 million bond, picked up nearly 70 percent of approval, well-above the required two-thirds needed for passage.

North Mare Island and Cooke Site

Over 20 years after Mare Island closed as an active naval base, the northern portion might be developed – finally.

The council in July decided to work with the Nimitz Group, formed by Dave Phinney and Gaylon Lawrence Jr., for the development of 157 acres on in North Mare Island.

At that time, the City Council authorized City Hall to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement (ENA) with the Nimitz Group.

Councilors were enthralled with Phinney, who after opening Savage & Cooke distillery in central Mare Island, set his eyes on developing North Mare Island.

The group has proposed opening a 56-acre media campus for Film Mare Island Film Studio, along with 15 acres for a wine processing facility.

Additional components of the development include office and retail space and room for manufacturing or industrial businesses. The entire project is expected to generate 1,500 jobs and spur the local economy.

Besides working with the Nimitz Group, the council has made additional moves to make North Mare Island more attractive to development. Councilors awarded a $924,505 contract in June to the Mountain View-based Ferma Corporation to demolish five vacant buildings near Walnut Avenue and G Street.

Many of the buildings, which were former barracks, had become havens for homeless and prostitution.

While in September, construction began with two new pipelines being bored underneath the Mare Island Strait, increasing water and wastewater services to the island. The pipes are expected to run under River Park ­— both bores will be located about 95 feet north of the Mare Island Causeway bridge.

The 52-acre property located at the intersection of Admiral Callaghan Lane and Turner Parkway, probably the last remaining parcel of developable land in Vallejo, received interest from a developer in 2018.

Known as Fairview at Northgate, the proposed development will consist of 180,000 square feet of commercial/shopping space, including re-location of Costco to a larger building, and 178 single-family detached homes on the property.

City Hall changes

The city of Vallejo welcomed a new city manager when Greg Nyhoff took over as chief executive in January. City Hall lured away Nyhoff from the city of Oxnard after long time City Manager Daniel Keen retired in November 2017.

“Vallejo is moving forward, and there are a lot of things good that are on the horizon for Vallejo,” Nyhoff said in January. “I want to be part of that, I want to help that, I want to be an active member of this community and engage in that.”

Nyhoff was busy in 2018, tapping Anne Cardwell as Vallejo’s new assistant city manager in November. Cardwell replaced Teri Killgore, who suddenly resigned from the assistant city manager position in July, citing family issues as the reason for her departure.

Nyhoff also dismissed Fire Chief Jack McArthur in June, ultimately appointing Daryl C. Arbuthnott in November to fill the position.